wishing you a merry christmas

antique 1901 photograph via the vintage image:

image via leaca young photography:

and from my family to yours

enjoy your christmas!!!!

winner

Random.org chose the winner of floresdelsol's first giveaway Jill!

" Jill- This must be a week for my Favorite combos - Muppets and Queen, Peanut butter and Chocolate and Hobnail milk Glass and Moss - Pure Heaven! Love your work! and I follow ;) "

Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Jill, I will be contacting you soon for your address.

happy monday!

*photo of a vintage dainty painting in garden state vintage. I will be on vacation from my stores starting tomorrow until mid- January, but I will still be posting as I am out west for vacation!

on a freezing friday

it is cold outside today. COLD!!!!!! I could tell from the moment I woke up this morning. I felt a cool draft coming from the crack in my window. I was suddenly swept away to memories of my drafty cold shoe box room growing up in a charming old farmhouse outside of Buffalo, New York. It was always freezing upstairs, the heat did not carry well through that old house. This morning I very much wanted to snuggle up with my old electric blanket that kept my toes warm through countless winters.

Here are some of my favorite white christmas decor items. Perfect for an old cold country home:

vintage holland mold mid century christmas tree from the sundaytimesmarket

2009 Commemorative Dove from Palomas nest

land-rich's tallow berry bulb {via modish}

petite winter trees by paintedwhite

vintage silver and gold ornaments from 5gardenias

noel-holiday hemp pillow from nestahome

don't forget.. my first giveaway ends this monday

and please stay warm!

the holly and the ivy

I have this book. Its a wonderful popular vintage book, but I am sad to say that I have grown to love it as I have ripped it apart. I found it in a recycling room as I was scrounging around for some boxes and bubble wrap to use for my etsy sales. "Familiar Quotations". I started to use pages from it folded in half and wrapped around packages and I often find inspiriting quotes as I wrap an etsy design up. Some are random, some are funny, some are famous.

I love the red holly berries in full bloom and the beautiful evergreen english ivy that is still slowly infringing upon my window. Ivy is one of very few plants this time of year to flash lime green with new growth. I found this old carol in the anonymous section of the book and it reminded me of the beauty still growing outdoors this cold Christmas time of year:

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown:
The rising of the sun
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet saviour-----
Carol. The Holly and the Ivy

and so I am wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

floresdelsol's first giveaway!

Here it is, my first giveaway!

moss cluster no. 15 in a vintage milk glass hobnail pedestal:

How to enter:
Its easy! Just leave a comment on this post to enter.

Contest ends December 14th

You can double your chances of winning by becoming a follower of this blog, just leave me another comment that you did (or already are).

Even more chances of winning by tweeting, facebooking or blogging this giveaway, once again leave a comment with each thing you've done.

--Contest open to only US and Canada
*be sure to leave an e-mail or link to contact you!

HOORAY for free things!

custom design

I created a custom design recently for Dionne of City of Dionne. A lovely blog featuring her talent of intricate illustrations. She sent me a copy of a print she has in her room and the color palette she was looking for.
Beach Day by cathynicols

so I took that, and made this:

one of my favorites so far. I love that she gave me a beautiful painting to go off of for the colors, otherwise my own brain might not have ever chosen this color palette to put together. Look for her blog of my design this weekend!

design inspiration

today's inspiration comes from event planner, floral designer and author Michelle Rago:

I love this woodlandy design created using ferns, fiddle head ferns, white ranunculas, curled bark, fresh moss, pine cones, lady slipper orchids and the beautiful large hens and chicks succulents. It reminds me of the bottom of a forest, cold, moist and alive. Notice the asymmetry? Nature grows asymmetrical which to me is more pleasing to the eye.

100th sale!

today was the 100th sale in floresdelsol!!!
pink passion will be heading off to Hawaii soon.

hooray!

in celebration I will be offering a 15% discount until thanksgiving day. Upon checkout write "100 sale" in message to seller and I will refund you through paypal.

Thank you to all my customers!!

flower id: dusty miller

Outside my doorstep, these beautiful plants are still flourishing in the midst of the cool air of late November. Dusty miller. It is a beautiful plant, unique with its snow white leaves that last throughout summer and autumn. The leaves are soft and velvety and once picked they last long in a vase indoors.

So that's what I did! I picked a little cluster. It has been over a week and it is still soft and beautiful in this vintage amber vase.

Dusty miller is a perennial- it grows back every year- but in cooler zones it is used as an annual. Its a hardy little plant that lasts through light frosts. Dusty miller is great for added texture in a garden, container planting or floral design like this one I created. See it tucked in at the corners?

aye que linda!

hobnail is back

can you tell I love vintage milk glass? Add in some hobnail and I become weak in the knees! I have a great friend who knows me well enough that if she is out at a garage sale or flea market she picks them up for me. Here is my latest hobnail milk glass find. It is a petite pedestal which are harder to come by. I designed a moss cluster in it:

a new design I made in a hobnail planter (these planters area little more common to find):

hobnail glass tumblers (a previous sale) oh they were beautius. I still sort of regretting selling them:

upcycled teal hobnail planter from mushroomandmoss

vintage hobnail milk glass tumblers from jwhite2

a tall vintage hobnail milk glass vase from eddieross
I actually have the same one. I have had it for months now. I just can't decide if I should design something big and beautiful in it, or sell it by itself in my vintage shop?

a beautiful crimson red vintage hobnail vase from lemontreefarm

if you ever see one, pick it up. Buy it for me or hold it and put it back. The feeling of the textured glass feels wonderful in your hands!

adios

my favorite vintage find of the summer has now found a new place to live. Spain.
Adios mi bolsita favorita....

luckily I found two very similar bolsitas that will appear in gardenstatevintage soon!

press release

I was wondering why designs were flying out of my shop recently! I am honored:
Etsy Take Five Tuesday on Decor 8 blog.

I love the give thanks banner pick from StoriaHome. So delightful for the holiday!
mmm now I am in the mood for thanksgiving. I want to hang this lovely french wreath on my door from makalewakan. And these natural seed pods with sunrise felted wool from woolicious nestled in and amongst the table settings.

Check on me again soon! I have blisters on my fingers from my hot hot hot glue gun. I created 10 new designs for a local craft fair this week (my first!) and to add to my store soon. And the yankees win! Goodnight

autumn inspirations

I love the autumn. It is my favorite time of year to design in. The fall tones of burnt oranges, vibrant reds and the rusty color of decaying leaves, not to mention the wonderful aroma they give off. I find all of this inspiring. It is so hard for me not to be in a floral shop designing with the fresh flowers of autumn. Dahlias, zinnias and cockscomb. I have entered into a new phase in life. The -your two beautiful daughters come first in life- phase. Therefor my passions come second. I am grateful for the internet and the inspiration it gives me when I can't design hands on. For example:

A huge carrot full of autumns finest. Bittersweet, dahlias and zinnias made by studio choo at design sponge. Its nice, its refreshing. Its not busting out of a gourd (i've done my share of those).

So now. What is new in floral design? What is the trend!? I have yet to find out. But I am dying. I would love to take a day and head into 28th street of new york. Not in the afternoon, but at 6am when it is busy and bustling with color and flora. The floral district. I would spy and pick out a designer pointing at and picking out all my autumn favorites. Follow them to their trendy shop in the Village or on Madison ave. I would be a fly on the wall and see what is trendy. Because that is how I work. I get inspired by a blog post, by a design, by moss in its natural habitat. Please, the leaf in the water, the bear grass swirled in the vase and looped around the designs. I am over it.

Until I can do that (of course my camera will be on hand and no I won't stalk) I will make up my own trend. As I have been, clustering clumps of flowers and tucking them in and amongst themselves:

new in shop

I am not one who normally decorates early for the Christmas holiday. I think there should be some sort of a rule. Let Thanksgiving have its day, then pull out the Christmas decor, twinkling lights and the warm holiday tunes. But is different when you are making the decor. So here I am in October with Bing Crosby in my head and these in my shop:

and now I want to put up my tree and string the twinkly lights.

sneak peak

I found a new wholesaler that I LOVE!! Actually I have been there before. It is one of the places where I get plants for my container planting business. BUT I did not know that during the winter months, it transforms into a Christmas and floral decor MECCA!! Beautiful intricate things. I only took photos in one of the greenhouses where I found parchment paper roses I use for floresdelsol designs. I bought like 10 bags of them all different colors.
The green pottery isle:



parchment paper roses!

I'll be going back a lot more!

saturday favorites

I got distracted today and came across the right time to snag a treasury. So I made one. Its my second!:

Verde with texture:

the end.

new items

my first item listed in gardenstatevintage!:

vintage mint teacups and saucers here
I was drawn to them because of their color and their resemblance to Jadite glass.

Next, two vintage apothecary style jars. I am a sucker for these. I see them, I throw them in my basket. No questions asked and I don't even check the price. I love colored glass and the way light reflects through them. Most have interesting textures also.

autumn happenings

I am here, I swear. I have been tied up, a little busy with a side business I have container gardening and its fall planting season:

and little distracted with this and her ear infection:


I DID go to my favorite rummage sale. I DID get a few finds for Garden State Vintage. I WILL be adding them soon!

and I placed an order from my favorite supplier for some preserved rose heads. I usually use the parchment paper roses but the preserved are soft to the touch and beautiful! They cost an arm and a leg but I am excited to get them in. That equals more new designs coming soon!

My first post

Welcome, welcome, here is my blog, my creative one!! I feel that I am in constant conflict with my personal family blog to not post things that con-inside with my floresdelsol shop or things about cool findings, creativity and such. SOOOOO HERE IT GOES!!! Follow along and I wont get overly personal but I will show you what I like!

And a new announcement:
I have opened up a vintage shop on etsy! www.gardenstatevintage.etsy.com I will start adding items in a few days after I hit up my FAVORITE RUMMAGE SALE TOMORROW!!






In this blog I will: post about my etsy stores, list good finds (probably mostly in home decor), interesting blogs, a few giveaways- that's right some of my designs, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Come and follow me!
-Christina